Johnny Damon left no doubt yesterday that the new center fielder in The Bronx is a Yankee Doodle Dandy who is happy to “show off” his talent to the world.
“I’m very proud to be an American,” Damon said in a conference call, promoting the World Baseball Classic. “We have freedom. My father served in the military and when it was asked if I would represent the country, there was no hesitation. I’m proud we get to live in this land where there is freedom, where we can even have these tournaments.
“Rest assured, it’s going to be a great day for the fans. It’s just awesome to represent our country.”
Damon said there was no pressure from the Yankees to not play in the March tournament.
“I think they would be pretty excited, one of the players they just got is selected to perhaps one of the best teams around,” Damon said. “I think they got a good player, and I think they want me to show off what I have and get myself ready for when the season rolls around because this is definitely going to feel like the playoffs. It seems like every single game with the Yankees or Red Sox was a playoff environment; I need to get myself ready for that.”
The Yankees do not want to see their major free-agent signing get injured while showing off his talent.
“I understand,” Damon said, “but they have not expressed anything [about not playing]. Right now it seems like it’s a go.”
Damon said he is not concerned about missing bonding time with his new teammates. He said he already has gotten the chance to hang out with them at Derek Jeter’s golf tournament.
“I know I’m going to see these guys so much,” Damon said. “You don’t really get the opportunity to represent your country and this is the only opportunity I have gotten.”
Damon, Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will do their bonding with the U.S. team in Arizona. Damon, who is working out in Orlando doing football speed and agility drills, said he has no plans to come to spring training early, but will show up on the reporting date, Feb. 20.
Both Damon and Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira said they believe Team USA is the WBC favorite.
“I feel very confident in the approach we’re taking and with the players we have, and we are a fairly young team, a lot of teams don’t really know about a lot of our players,” Damon said. “I think we can sneak in there.”
The former Red Sox Idiot mentioned that there is so much talent on the team, he is about the “fifth best center fielder” out there.
You can be sure Damon will bat leadoff. One of Damon’s great attributes is his ability to work the count and foul off pitches, and that is even more important in this tournament because the pitchers will be on pitch counts.
The Classic, Damon said, would get him ready for the real season.
“We’re going to be game-ready and battle-tested,” Damon said. “It’s going to be for the world’s bragging rights. This is a great way to jump-start the baseball season.”